Andy F

Is Trump guilty of inciting mob violence against the US Capitol on Jan.6? Or is he innocent, because he was too stupid to recognize what the angry crowd he had summoned to Washington was going to do?

The fact is, he knew how dangerous COVID-19 is back in March of 2020, and he still went ahead and encouraged his supporters to get together in big events, without masks or social distancing.  He MUST have known this would spread the virus and damage the hell out of the economy.  If the virus hadn't wrecked the economy, he probably would have WON.  Why didn't he protect the USA by giving us good advice about the virus, so he could save his presidency?

With US capitalism functioning as it actually does in this country, any prolonged lo inckdown or even partial lockdown of bars, restaurants, gyms, nail salons etc will cost workers jobs and causes small businesses to go bankrupt.  Unemployment will rise, poverty will increase, and landlords and mortgage companies and banks will suffer from revenue losses triggered by the lockdowns and partial lockdowns.  But if public elected leaders let bars, restaurants, gyms, nail salons etc stay open with no restrictions, the virus will surge and millions of people will get it, and some people will die.  It's a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation -- under capitalism as we know it. Most Americans don't know any other system, many hate the idea of "socialism" as leading to tyranny, but this market-based, money-addicted economy we have just isn't handling the pandemic well.  Don't we need something different -- something that can stop the frigging pandemic without wrecking the economy?

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The fact is, record hot temperatures have helped California, Colorado and other Western states to see a huge growth in wildfires this summer -- a side effect of climate change.

In the Gulf of Mexico, unusually hot ocean waters -- another effect of global warming - helped Hurricane Laura grow to monster intensity and cause terrible damage to southwestern Louisiana and the Texas Gulf Coast.

Yet the Republican convention just celebrated the deregulation of the fossil fuels industries -- industries whose CO2 emissions are feeding "global warming" aka "climate change."

When will intelligent and scientifically literate Republicans get this?  You can't keep promoting a carbon-based US energy future without promoting devastation -- not just in "liberal" California, but also in conservative red states in the South where white voters love you guys.

When do you wake up and change directions on energy, to save this country and your own political future?